Crash and Burn
by healerkou
Summary: This is a story about hard times, a distrustful Mithra girl on the edge, and a Hume man with a dark past. A deep character driven story about countries at war, and a love that no one expected. Chapter 5 now up!
1. Arlette

**Crash and Burn **

_I don't own FFXI or any of the creatures or races that exist there. Any character names and history used in this story are of my own creation. Arlette and Kodie are characters in the game, so they can't be used in any other stories without my permission. Not that anyone would want to anyway, but I should probably cover all grounds._

_ This is my first story of this nature. Reviews are welcome, flames and nastiness are not._

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Arlette was from what some would refer to as "the wrong side of the tracks." Born poor, she never knew her parents. They died when she was very young, and ever since that time she had done whatever she had to do to survive. She would definitely steal, but if she had to, she would do worse things. And she had learned from experience to never trust anyone but herself.

Case in point, when she was 13 she finally started to develop a womanly figure. After all, she was a Mithra and that fact was pretty hard to hide. She would wear caps to cover her ears, and tuck her tail into men's trousers…but it was becoming harder and harder to hide her breasts and hips.

And of course, many of the Hume men loved Mithra women. Arlette didn't quite get it, since she herself wasn't attracted to anyone (and never intended to be), but it was fact. And it was them you had to watch out for. Some of the lowlife men from the slums of Windurst had no qualms with forming rape gangs and going after whatever woman they saw fit (and who was weaker than them, of course.) Mithra, Hume, even Taru women (that last one boggled Arlette's mind) weren't safe.

One morning, very near the approach of dawn when she knew no one else would be around, Arlette snuck down to a stream to wash herself and her clothes. In all her years, she had never had a problem doing things that way, so she may have let her defenses down a bit. Because of that, she didn't notice the Hume man napping behind a nearby rock. He had a hat over his eyes, but the sounds of movement in the water startled him awake. Pushing his hat back onto his head, he peeked out from behind his resting place and saw a young Mithra girl bathing herself. He barely wasted a second before quietly sitting up, and making his way toward her.

Arlette had just pulled the large button-up shirt she always wore back over her head, when she was suddenly grabbed from behind by a strong arm, and on the other side a hand was placed over her mouth. She immediately started to struggle. She kicked back at the man's groin, but missed. She attempted to throw her head back and give him a hard head-butt, but he also dodged that attack. The man pushed the much smaller Mithra down on the ground. He readjusted his hold on her so that she was on her back with her arms over her head, which he was holding down with one arm. His other hand was still clamped over her mouth, and he was sitting on her legs. He was much bigger and much heavier than the girl, so there was little she could do to escape him.

His intentions were obvious to Arlette, though she would have rather died than let him have his way with her. Eventually he would have to let go of her a bit so that he could do his dirty work, and that's when she would strike.

Before too long, he did loosen his grip on her so that he could reach down and start unfastening his pants. At that moment, Arlette lunged away from him with all her strength. She flailed and kicked her legs out behind her in hopes of connected with him, or at least keeping him away. Arlette did not scream, however. She knew that to scream would probably bring more men who wished her harm, rather than someone wanting to help her.

The man grabbed at Arlette's long white hair, which she generally kept in a braid and tucked into her cap. But because she had been bathing, it flowed freely down her back, almost to her tail. She knew that keeping such long hair would come back and haunt her someday, and sure enough it had. But she had kept it for sentimental reasons. The only memory she had of her mother was of long white hair, and smiling green eyes. Arlette missed out on having green eyes, so she always assumed that her father's must have been brown, like hers.

The man pulled back on Arlette's hair, snapping the Mithra's hair back and badly wrenching her neck. She let out only the smallest yelp of pain, then composed herself again. She fell down on her stomach, and reached out frantically with her arms in hopes of pulling herself away from her attacker.

It was then that Arlette felt something cut into her right hand. A piece of broken metal that someone had discarded by the stream, perhaps from someone's sword or armor. She flinched at first, but then grasped the shard tightly in her hand. In a blind fury, the Mithra girl spun to face the man, and jammed the shard of metal deep into his eye.

The man released her hair, and stumbled back in to the stream, screaming bloody murder. Arlette took off running then, because it wouldn't be long before the man's screams attracted a lot of unwanted attention. She never looked back, not even to see if the man had fallen into the stream and drowned.

It was several minutes later (and much deeper into the woods) when Arlette stopped to catch her breath. It was then she noticed that she still had the metal shard in her hand. She must have pulled it back out when the man stumbled away from her, and in all the excitement just forgot to drop it.

The young Mithra, barely out of childhood, looked intently at the metal piece for at least a minute. Then, she reached up behind her head with it, just at the spot where her head and neck met, and started sawing off her hair.

It took at least five minutes, but soon the shard of mental dropped to the ground next to a large pile of shimmering white hair, and the Mithra walked away from it all.

She knew that she could never get caught again. She would never be weaker than anyone else. Ever.

**10 Years Later**

"Stop her!" An old Mithra woman screamed, pointing viciously at a retreating Mithra with short white hair.

A couple people passing by started to run after the retreating figure, who had obviously just stolen from the old woman. Crime had been up recently with all the fighting going on, and unrest between the countries.

The young Mithra was quick, though, and was putting a healthy distance between herself and her pursuers, the bread she had stolen clutched against her chest.

Then, suddenly, before she even knew what happened, she was flat on her face in the dirt.

"The hell…?" she muttered to herself, looking up. She came face-to-face with a young Hume man with short red hair, wearing the armor of a Dark Knight.

"Sorry," he said, not sounding very sorry at all. "I didn't want to trip you like that, but I saw you running away from old lady Nacuun's store and thought maybe you had something you'd like to return to her."

The young Mithra woman glared at him, and he smirked back at her. He offered her his hand, but she slapped it away and got up on her own. The young man's smile grew wider. The Mithra continued to glare. She hated men. Especially Hume men. Especially cocky Hume men.

"I'm Kodie," he finally said.

"I don't care," the woman said back to him.

"There she is!" Came a male voice from directly behind the duo.

Before she could do anything, the Mithra girl was grabbed from behind, and started being dragged back into the center of the village.

"Hey, stop!" The boy named Kodie called after them. "What are you going to do to her?"

"What we should do to all criminals," the man called back, "Execute her!"

Kodie looked down at his feet and saw a loaf of bread. Picking it up, he ran after the man and the struggling Mithra.

"Wait!" He yelled, "Surely you won't execute someone over a tiny loaf of bread!" Quickly catching up to the man in front of Nacuun's grocery store, he laid the bread down in front of the old woman. "See? No harm done."

A small crowd had begun to gather due to all the commotion, but the man did not loosen his grip on the struggling young woman. Normally she was lithe and could slip away from an untrained person, but this man was quite large all over. His height, and his width. At five feet tall and 100 lbs., there wasn't much she could do but wait and see what the strange fellow named Kodie was going to say.

The red-haired man went to stand by the captured Mithra's side and said, "If you release her to my custody, I assure you I will personally make sure she is banished from Windurst."

The older man looked at him for a long while as if sizing him up, then finally decided that the Dark Knight could forcibly take the girl away if he wanted to, anyway.

"Fine, take her. But I'd better not see her around here again. If I do, no good Samaritan will be able to stop the things I'll do to her."

With that, Kodie grabbed one of the girl's arms (quite roughly) and escorted her through the gate and out of the village.

Once outside the village walls, the Mitha jerked her arm free and took off running.

"Hey!" Kodie called out to her. "I saved your life! You at least have to tell me your name!"

Without stopping, the girl simply looked back over her shoulder, her white hair catching glints of light from the sun, and yelled back at him.

"My name is Arlette!"


	2. Kodie

_This story is now being co-written with my fiancé. This chapter was the first part of our collaboration, but was mostly written by him._

_FFXI and the character Zeid are owned by SquareEnix. Arlette and Kodie are owned by us, I guess. Any other characters  
mentioned are also created by us unless otherwise noted._

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**Valkrum Dunes**

The Young red headed warrior stood his ground though his nervousness began to show as the four goblins began to approach him. He held his shield and short sword, getting into his ready stance, but felt his efforts were probably futile. These goblins would be too much for him, even one of them would be hard for an inexperienced group.

The Valkrum Dunes separated the Adventurers from the failures. It was the cross way to get to all three major countries. Bastok, San'd Oria and even to Windurst (by taking the ferry boat from Selbina to Mhaura.) It was customary for any inexperienced adventurer to cross through the sandy dune beached area that was infested with Goblins, Ghosts and even Ghouls. Adventurers were always warned to always go in groups, never to go alone. Kodie was not given that warning this day.

The fifteen-year-old Warrior knew this could be his final day, but at least he would go out fighting. Though like most all young Hume kids, his dream was to be the greatest Adventurer of all time. But like most, his dream would seem to have ended at the dunes.

Two of the goblins had their knives ready the other two had crossbows. One fired a bolt at Kodie but he quickly blocked it with his wooden shield. Another goblin then attempted to strike him with his knife but Kodie managed to parry it with his sword and stab the goblin into the chest. For a moment he thought he could handle them, but then suddenly he felt a sharp pain on his right side. The young warrior looked down to see that the other goblin had stabbed him right above the waist, and blood quickly gushed from his side. Kodie screamed in pain and before he could attempt to strike that goblin, one of the others shot his other arm and he dropped his sword and crossbow bolt.

Kodie screamed, but it was a scream more of frustration than of pain.

He continued to scream as he dropped to his knees, another bolt hitting his leg, Kodie tried to crawl away but the goblins simply followed. Yhey knew he was done for, so they decided to play with the kid. They'd make him an example to other Adventurers that would dare try to cross through the dunes.

Kodie made his way to a rock and watched the three remaining goblins approach. He could hear them speak but could not understand them as they were speaking in their goblin language. He tried to get up, but due to the loss of so much blood he was becoming dizzy. He thought about his past, the years of being a young thief, to first becoming a warrior but it was all for naught. He simply watched as the goblin holding the large knife charged at him, getting ready to finish off the kid while the other two seemed to laugh.

Before the blade could meet with Kodie, a sudden lightning bolt struck the goblin, killing it instantly. Kodie flinched at the bright light, but once it settled he glanced over to see the now charred remains of the goblin. Kodie and the other two goblins looked over to see a large hulking being clad in dark armor, and carrying a large scythe. Kodie realized the being was a Galka, but had never seen that type of armor, that type of power.

The Galka made short work of the two goblins, taking them both out with his scythe. Kodie could barely watch though as his vision began to fade, and then it became dark as the Galka approached him.

Kodie's eyes darted open and he quickly sat up, but he found himself on a bed inside an old wooden shack. He looked down to his wounds to see that they were all bandaged. He was only in his undershorts since his leg needed to be patch up as well. The young warrior looked over as he heard a set of footsteps as an elder man entered the room.

"Oh finally you're awake, I thought you were sure to be dead…" The old man said with a gentle smile.

"Where…am I? What happened?" Kodie replied as he held his head, still feeling dizzy.

"You're in Selbina. Ah, still not quite recovered aren't you? Well you've been out for two days. If it wasn't for a white mage that came by here, you surely would have been lost to us."

Kodie looked out the window and spotted the ferry boat docking, it was the same boat he arrived in those two days ago before the incident. He then sat up and reached over to grab his pants and slip them on.

"The last thing I remembered was…a Galka in dark armor…" Kodie said as he buckled his pants and then reached over to slip his boots on. He tried to stand up and even though he was dizzy, and was finally able to stand up on his own.

"Oh that Galka who saved you was none other the Zeid. He brought you here after defeating those goblins."

"Zeid? I never saw anyone as powerful as him…" Kodie said as he sat back down on the bed, while the old man sat down at a chair across the room.

"That's because Zeid is a Dark Knight…they give themselves to the darkness in order to become more powerful. Zeid is considered to be one of the most powerful Dark Knights in Vana'diel. You were lucky to have him near by."

Kodie simply stared out in space for a moment. All he could think about was the final moments before he passed out. The way Zeid took out all three goblins with ease. Kodie was amazed; it was the type of power he always wanted. With abilities like that he could indeed be the greatest adventurer of all Vana'diel. Suddenly Kodie snapped back into reality, his focus now back to the old man.

"I have to continue on my supply run to the nearest outpost…but do you know where he could have gone?" Kodie asked.

The old man chuckled a little and then shook his head.

"You don't mean to tell me you're going to find him huh? Zeid doesn't take kindly to those who follow him, and you think someone would question where he would go?" The old man continued to laugh but finally his chuckling began to die down. "Well by the looks of things he was going the direction of the Konschtat Highlands. I would assume then he's going to Bastok."

Kodie smiled, that would be this young adventurer's next destination. His destiny would begin that day.

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**10 Years Later  
Valkrum Dunes**

"RUN! THERE'S MORE OF THEM!"

A Hume cried as himself, a Hume female, an Elvaan male and a Mithra were being chased by a group of four goblins. The new adventurers did still not learn lessons of earlier ones.

"We're not going to make it!" The Elvaan cried.

"YES WE ARE!" The Hume male said as he pointed to the entrance of Selbina. But that joy was ended shortly as two other goblins blocked the entrance and caused the group to stop. Within moments, they were surrounded by six goblins. The group began to unsheathe their weapons but the Mithra was quickly shot with an arrow to the shoulder. The Elvaan male quickly ran to her side while the two Humes stayed close with their weapons armed, though knowing it would be futile.

As one of the goblins approached them he was suddenly engulfed in fire. The other goblins jumped back and turned to hear what sounded like a "Wark". It was a Chocobo riding on the sand and on top was a red headed Hume clad in dark armor, holding a scythe with one hand. When Kodie was close enough to the goblins he jumped off the Chocobo and while in the air swiped down with his scythe able to take out two of the goblins, leaving three who were standing in shock, shaking nervously while holding their weapons.

Kodie turned to the three as he pointed his blade at them. He taunted the goblins with a smirk, knowing full well that no beast man appreciated being provoked in any way, and like clockwork the goblins charged at him. Kodie managed to kick one away while parrying the other goblin's knife attack and at the same time using his free hand to cast a stone spell crushing one of the goblins. In the meanwhile he spun around with quick speed to kill the parried Goblin with his scythe and now leaving the one goblin that he kicked to the ground, finally standing back up.

"I just killed five of your friends, you really think you can take me on your own?" He said with a cocky smirk, but then realized what the goblin was doing as it pulled out a bomb from its bag. Kodie knew its intent was to throw it at the group so he cast a Stun spell on the goblin, freezing it from doing anything with the exception of watching the bomb go off in its hand.

"You should have just run…" Kodie said as he strapped the scythe onto his back side and crouched down next to the injured Mithra.

"Her wounds aren't bad. But she needs rest. There is an old man that has a shack in Selbina that will take care of her."

The Elvaan nodded and lifted up the Mithra. The Hume female approached Kodie as he stood up himself. "Thank you so much…I guess it was dumb of us to go too far like that…I mean, what real adventurer wouldn't know a thing like that?"

Kodie had a whistle around a necklace that he lifted and blew into it. Another "Wark" could be heard as the Chocobo approached him. "You're not the first one that has made that mistake…and certainly won't be the last. Just be careful."

The Hume male had walked over and placed his hand on his female companion's shoulder. He smiled and nodded as he looked up at the Dark Knight as he hoisted himself onto the Chocobo. "We learned our lesson, thanks! But where are you heading now?"

Kodie looked down at the Hume. "Windurst…I got some business to take care of."


	3. When You Feel All Alone

_FFXI stuff would be owned by SquareEnix and Arlette and Kodie are characters made up by Healerkou and Serge. Do not use them or anything._

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Arlette skulked and lurked around the Yagudos that were huddled together outside a large cave entrance. She was on her way to Jeuno in hopes of starting over, and some money was definitely needed to accomplish that. But, seeing as how she was banished from Windurst where people actually had money she could steal, she had lowered herself to pick-pocketing travelers on the road, and trying to swipe Yagudo feathers and necklaces that she could try and sell when she got to Jeuno.

The beastmen were a couple feet taller than Arlette, and were basically bird-men covered in gray plumage. Bits of that plumage, plus the necklaces the magic-castors wore, went for a lot of gil in Jeuno. Arlette grinned to herself at the thought. Not to mention that her buyers would probably be impressed at her skill in procuring the items in the first place. After all, the creatures were intelligent, but they spoke their own language and Arlette never bothered to learn it. Nor was she that interested, to be honest. Sometimes she wondered if they could understand her. She doubted it.

A couple Yagudo Scribes and Initiates had caught her attention about a mile back, so she had followed them for a while, keeping back enough so that they wouldn't perceive her as a threat, and perhaps not even notice her. Then, while they were distracted with whatever they were discussing in their language, she would make her move. All the beastmen seemed young, so Arlette hoped they were inexperienced enough to let her get away with it.

Even though this level of thievery was way beneath her, Arlette wasn't too proud to admit it was her own fault for getting caught back in Windurst. Hell, she was even lucky to be alive. If it weren't for that Dark Knight, there's no way she would have been able to fight off an entire angry mob of people. And it was all because of a small loaf of bread. It was enough to make her sick, thinking about it. It was her own weakness that caused her to be sloppy back there, and she would never allow it to happen again. Because of her stupid growling stomach, she had almost been caught for the first time in ten years. Then, to add insult to injury, she was saved by a Hume man.

'_Although, I am only flesh and blood,' _Arlette tried to justify in her own mind, _'Everyone makes mistakes sometimes. I just have to be careful not to make another stupid mistake.'_

Quietly, the young Mithra woman approached the Yagudos. She had her hand raised and was aiming right for a young Scribe's necklace when he suddenly spun around and immediately cast Bind on her.

'_They knew I was here this whole time!' _Arlette suddenly thought to herself. How could she have been so stupid? She wasn't an amateur! But for whatever reason, the beastmen had been waiting for her.

The spell made her unable to move for a short period of time, but it was long enough for the beastmen to gather around and chain her arms behind her. One fastened those chains with a lock, while another put shackles on her legs.

The Yagudo who looked to be the oldest of the group picked Arlette up like she weighed nothing, and tossed her over his shoulder and began walking towards the cave. The Mithra kicked and wiggled and flailed and made growling sounds in the back of her throat, but to no avail. Finally, the Yagudo just seemed to be getting annoyed with her, so he motioned to one of the Scribes who raised his staff and slammed it down on top of her head.

As the pain began to fade to black, Arlette lost consciousness thinking that this really was the last mistake she'd ever make.


	4. The World Has Turned Its Back On You

_Note: Sorry the last chapter was a little short, but it was just setting up this chapter. This is going to be a pretty lengthy chapter, hope you don't mind. Zeid, Khuma, Semih Lhafihna and any Beastmen are characters from the FFXI world credited to SquareEnix. All other characters were created by Serge or Healerkou._

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Bastok**

"Get away from me kid, I don't train anyone…" The large Galka clad in dark armor said to the now sixteen-year-old Hume named Kodie.

It had been one year since the day Kodie made his decision to find Zeid. Though finding the Dark Knight was no easy task. The large advanced city made it hard, especially to gather information. For a year, Kodie lived among the Galka. He knew they could possibly be the ones that could tell him, but he had to earn their trust. Kodie befriended a Galka by the name of Toren or as the Humes called him, Power Axe. Finally, Kodie found where he could meet with Zeid.

"I have not forgotten the power you displayed a year ago…I wish to know the ways of the Dark Knight…please you must teach me…" Kodie pleaded to the Galka, looking up at him with his determined eyes, though he was intimidated by the Dark Knight. But then again, who wouldn't be?

"What you did a year ago was stupid, though you did show determination, normally other Adventurers would give up…but you didn't. The path of a Dark Knight will be a harsh one, you must give yourself to the darkness…but at the same time you must not let it consume your soul. Fore once it does, you will be a soulless being just like those undead creatures. For the rest of your life you must make sure of this. I will give you one day to make that decision. If you still think you can handle being a Dark Knight, you will meet me in the Zeruhn mines and you will face your first test…" Zeid then turned away from him and walked off, leaving Kodie alone to think for the day.

**Zeruhn Mines**

Kodie paced around near the entrance of the mines, he waited at least three hours for the Dark Knight to arrive. The decision was made earlier that day, now all he could do was simply wait.

"So you made it…" A voice said coming out of the caves. It was Zeid, and he was holding a large sword.

"I'm ready for whatever I have to do to prove that I am worthy of being a Dark Knight.." Kodie said, looking up. He had a sword on his side and was carrying a shield, wearing what looked like a brass harness, pants and boots. He looked prepared for some sort of battle.

"Your test is to go into the Zeruhn mines. You will kill one hundred creatures. But not with those weapons you possess, you will use this…" Zeid unsheathed a large dark sword from his back and offered the handle to Kodie. Zeid let go of the sword as soon as Kodie grabbed it, which sent the Hume down to the ground as he didn't expect the blade to be so heavy.

"This…awww man, its too heavy.." Kodie said as he tried to lift the sword up, because the blade was barely hovering over the ground.

"This blade is called Chaosbringer…it is a hard sword to use which is intentional. But it will indicate that you have killed one hundred enemies. The more blood you feed it, the better you will become with it. But if you leave the mines, the sword will revert back to its original self and you will fail the test."

Kodie couldn't imagine how he could fight with such a hard to use weapon, much less kill one hundred enemies. But he knew this task must be done, he wanted nothing more right now then the powers of a Dark Knight. He would do anything for it. The surprised look from carrying the heavy blade turned into a look of fierce determination, as he dragged the large sword into the darkness of the cave.

A week passed and finally the young Hume exited the cave, though he looked much different then before. His face was bloodied, harness ripped apart, pants tattered and torn, scratches all over his body. Some of the blood stained on him was not only from himself but also from the enemies he fought. He used the sword as a crutch as he made his way out of the cave, and the Dark Knight Galka stood and waited. Once Kodie reached him, he dropped down to his knees, sticking the large sword firmly in the ground.

"It's….done…one hundred enemies…" Kodie said as he looked up at the Galka while on his knees.

Zeid didn't respond right away, he simply lifted the sword up to examine the blade, noting that some of the blood and flesh from the creatures was still stained on the blade. He simply nodded as he sheathed the sword to his back. "Very well boy, you have deemed yourself worthy of my training…you will rest and then pack, tomorrow we leave Bastok and start your training."

Kodie nodded as he struggled to stand. "Ok…I will be ready..." he then limped his way towards the Galka residential area.

"Tell me Hume, how did you feel killing those enemies with this blade?"

Kodie stopped for a moment and turned back to Zeid. "It was horrible…dark…every time I took out an enemy, I didn't stop until I was satisfied that it was dead. I was scared at first…" Suddenly a strange yet sadistic smile appeared on his bloodied face. "But after awhile…I was starting to enjoy it..."

**9 Years Later**

**Windurst**

Kodie walked back into the gates of Windurst. The Mithra named Arlette ran off, but it didn't matter to him anyways. His task was to make sure she was away from Windurst and he did his part, what happened to her afterwards didn't matter. She wasn't the reason he was there, even though deep down he had a weird feeling that they would cross paths again.

The Dark Knight made his way towards the residential area looking around as young Tarutarus and Mithras played around the area. Groups of various races conversing outside of their houses, it was a typical day in Windurst, though Kodie had not been in his own nation in over a year.

Kodie made his way into one of the houses where there was a blond haired Mithra sitting down fixing what looked like a bow. Her hair was tied back, and she had on a heavy looking brown doublet, and a pair of pants and boots. The pants and boots were unusual for a Mithra to wear especially in this area, as most of them were barefoot and wearing loincloths.

"You know I bet a hoard of Orcs couldn't interrupt you when you're tweaking with your bows."

The Mithra looked up to see who had entered and smiled as she jumped out of her chair and ran to embrace Kodie in a hug.

"KODIE! You made it!" The Mithra said as she pulled away a bit to look at his face, her arms still around his neck.

Kodie smiled back at the Mithra as he returned the hug. "Yeah its' been a while Khuma…good to see you are doing fine"

Kodie considered Khuma like a sister; his mother raised her when she was orphaned, since then the two had been adventuring together. She was a Ranger, and Kodie believed that her marksman skills were top notch.

"What did I tell you about hugging my wife?" A voice said behind Kodie.

The Dark Knight turned around to see an Elvaan male standing at the entrance. He wore a white robe with red designs on it, and with a hood that was hanging on his back, a pair of grey pants and pair of moccasins, strapped to his back looked to have been a staff. For a moment he had a serious look but a smirk appeared on his face as Kodie let go of Khuma and walked over to shake the Elvaan's hand and then gave a quick hug.

"You know Ren, you may be married to her but me and Khuma had been through a hell of a lot more then you." Kodie said with a little chuckle.

"Yeah yeah, but you're too little too late there, besides I could tell you what Khuma and I go through…"

"All right, that's enough you two," Khuma interrupted, not wanting Ren to give out too much information. "By the way Kodie, what happened earlier? I heard that a Dark Knight got involved with saving some Thief's hide."

Kodie just shrugged, "Some Mithra got caught stealing from Nacuun's, they were gonna execute her but I told them she would stay out of Windurst No big deal. But anyways enough of that, what's this quest you guys needed me for?"

Kodie had received a message from Khuma in Jeuno about needing him for a task; she knew that he would come despite the vague message. Khuma walked over to Ren and gave him a quick kiss on the cheek then walked back over to her chair as she went back to working on her bow.

"Things have been weird for the last several weeks. The Beastmen have been getting pretty aggressive as of late." Khuma glanced up at the two as both men sat down on chairs themselves.

"Yeah I've been hearing about that, but it shouldn't be a big deal, the Beastmen tend to get out of hand sometimes," Kodie replied.

"True, but now it's getting worse then normal. More Adventurers are getting killed. The Federation is starting to get a little uneasy about things now, though they haven't gone public. That's why they've hired us to go to Giddeus and investigate what the Yagudo has been up too," Ren said.

"But why would you guys need me for this mission? Both of you guys can handle those Yagudos easily. Why need me?" Kodie asked looking rather confused.

"The Star Sybil herself requested you." Khuma said as he stood up after she finished adjusting her bow. "She's offering twenty thousand gil for this mission."

Kodie tilted his head to the side a bit in question. Why would the Star Sybil request him to be on this task? He then leaned down on his chair and shook his head. "She should know that the group was disbanded a long time ago…but fine I'll help out."

"Great we'll head out tonight!" Khuma said as she walked over to Kodie and patted his shoulder.

The Dark Knight looked up at her as he then stood up from his chair and shook his head yet again. "You know something? My gut is telling me that we should head out there as soon as possible."

"Whoa, during the day? You're kidding right, Kodie? Maybe you just had too many Mithrakabobs or something." Ren said as he stood up as well.

"No, I got a strange feeling about something, like we need to be there now..."

"Well we got everything ready now. So if you want, we can head out."

Kodie nodded to Khuma as he made his way out of the house, followed by her. Ren stood there for the moment and shook his head. "Awwww man, I got a bad feeling about this…"

**Giddeus**

It had been at least an hour when they arrived at the small canyon area that was full of caves and crevices. This area had become a stronghold for the Yagudo. After the war, The Federation of Windurst was aware of the territory but wanted peace between the two areas, so they would send someone over with a food offering to the Yagudos in Giddeus. But lately even with the food offerings, the Yagudos have been aggressive.

The group of three stopped at least several hundred yards away and hid behind a large boulder. A Yagudo was guarding the entrance. "How the Altana are we going to go in without that guard alerting others?" Ren asked.

"Watch…" A smirk appeared on Khuma's face as she pulled out her bow and then an arrow. She pulled the arrow in the bow tightly keeping her aim right at the Yagudo that was at least two to three hundred yards from the group. With one eye closed and her aiming eye open she let go of the arrow as it quickly it the target on the head killing it instantly. The other two just watched over the boulder.

"Not bad of a shot there, Khuma.." Kodie said.

"Eh…I was actually aiming forrrr the neck. Stupid wind…" She said as she shook her head in disappointment. Khuma had been raised by a Hume and never adopted the Mithran accent, though sometimes it would show up.

The group stood back up as they entered Giddeus, now following the trail inside the canyon area. It was hard to stay hidden since Giddeus was practically shaped like a maze with tall walls. The Yagudo practically carved up the entire area themselves using the open spaces as alters to worship.

They continued their way through the trails, though it seemed a bit too easy. Normally there would be at least a few Yagudos along the trails but for some reason there weren't any, not even within the first cave they entered.

"OK, is this weird that we got into the first cave without any Yags hanging around?" Ren whispered as he held on to his staff getting ready for surprises.

"This is pretty weird…stay close and alert…" Kodie said as he held onto his Scythe and made his way out of the exit of the first cave.

Meanwhile along the cliffside area of Giddeus, the young white haired Mithra finally opened her eyes and shook her head groggily. As she struggled to stand up, she reached to hold her head that was pounding with pain, but realized her hands couldn't reach that high. She looked down and saw that her wrists and ankles were locked in shackled and chained to the ground.

"What the…?" She yelled as she violently tried to pull herself out of the chains, but to no avail. She couldn't free herself, not even a Galka could break the thick chains.

Arlette tried to regain her calm and not let panic take over her. She looked over her surroundings and noticed that there were two cave entrances near by. One several yards in front of her and the other several yards to her left, though it was gated. She looked behind her to notice she was just a couple of feet from the edge of the cliff. Arlette glanced over the cliff to see that she was several hundred feet above the nearby sea and below were hundreds of jagged rocks.

The Mithra Thief turned as she heard footsteps. Most of the Yagudos had exited the cave that was in front of her and stood a few yards away from her. One of the Yagudos stepped out of the group, holding a large staff. He looked slightly older then the rest, he had several more beads on him as well as a head piece. Arlette growled and lunged at the Yagudo, trying to pull the chains off but again to no avail.

"LET ME GO, YOU FEATHERED FREAK!" She screamed as she thrashed at her chains, but the Yagudo simply ignored her and in his language spoke to the others behind him, and they began to chant. The old Yagudo turned towards the left cave gate and ordered the two beastmen that were there to open it.

As the gate was opening, Arlette helplessly watched as the large group suddenly ran towards the center cave, with the old Yagudo following the group as they disappeared into the cave.

The Mithra stood there confused for a moment but then her eyes widened as she hard loud steps coming from the left cave. She tried again to pull the chains off of her, but for the third time it was just a waste of energy. As the loud steps revealed themselves from outside of the cave, a dark figure got closer and loomed over the Mithra. It was a large Black Dragon.

"This hasn't been my day!" She said to herself as she violently thrashed against the chains. As the Dragon began to approach, it bared its teeth to its meal.

Arlette couldn't believe that this was going to be her end. She was angry with herself for being this helpless. But nonetheless she didn't scream for help, not that anyone would hear her, or so she thought. She just closed her eyes and turned away as she felt the breath of the Dragon close by.

Suddenly from the top of the cave, the Dark Knight jumped and landed on top of the Dragon's back as he struck down the with his scythe, the tip of the blade piercing into the Black Dragon's hard skin. It didn't do much damage but it made the Dragon scream in pain and divert its attention to Kodie, who had jumped off of the creature towards the other end.

"Come on lizard…" Kodie said with a smirk as the Dragon now began to charge towards him.

As the Dragon got close to the Dark Knight an arrow hit its eye causing it to howl in pain. Khuma stood on top of the cave as she quickly pulled back her bow that was holding another arrow. "Now, Ren!" She screamed as she jumped down to the ground shooting the second arrow while in the air to hit the Dragon's other eye.

Ren stood on top and began to concentrate with his eyes closed as the area around him begins to glow with a red aura. "I summon you, Ifrit!" The ground in front of him exploded as a large red demonic looking creature stood in front of him, growling towards the Dragon. Ifrit wasn't big enough to stop the dragon, but it would distract him for long enough. The fire creature charged towards the Dragon.

Meanwhile, Kodie made his way towards the chained Mithra. "Stand still..." He said as he used his scythe to break each chain off of her, freeing Arlette. "What the heck are you doing here!"

"Me? Why the hell are you stalking me!" Arlette replied.

"Stalking you! No way, I'm on a mission! Now if you'd excuse me I got a dragon to take out!"

Ifrit did its job by distracting the large creature shooting fireballs and throwing punches at it, as Kodie ran behind the dragon and made his way on top of the back again. But this time he made his way towards the head of the creature. "Ren, get rid of Ifrit….NOW!" He said as Ren quickly made the red beast disappear and Kodie struck his Scythe down to the head, piercing the hard skin and skull as the dark blade went deep, causing it to violently flail around the area.

The tail swung and hit Arlette, causing her to fall over the cliff. But before falling down to her death, she managed to grab a nearby root, which left her hanging on for dear life. However, at the time no one noticed what happened to her as they were too distracted by the now dying dragon.

Finally after what seemed like an eternity, the creature gave its last ounce of life. Kodie had held onto his scythe firmly the entire time, keeping the blade keep in its head. Once the creature expired, Kodie pulled the scythe out of its head and jumped off the beast.

"Let's go, Kodie!" Khuma called out as herself and Ren were waiting in the cave.

Kodie followed as they went deep into the cave, but he suddenly stopped and looked over towards where they just had the battle. "Wait a minute…where did Arlette go?"

"You mean that other Mithra? Who knows, she probably just ran off. We gotta get moving, I just heard Yags," Ren said.

"You guys go on ahead, I'll meet you in Windurst" Kodie replied, knowing full well that Ren and Khuma could take care of themselves.

"Be careful Kodie!" Khuma said as Kodie made his way back towards the cliff.

Arlette was still hanging by the root; she couldn't grip on to anything, even with her feet as the slipped from the wall. The root was beginning to give way, though she never screamed for help, her pride again getting in the way. But again her calls were not needed as Kodie made his way towards her and reached towards her.

"Give me your hand!" He called out.

Arlette tried to reach towards him and just as her hand touched his, the root snapped causing her to fall towards the rocks below. Kodie quickly grabbed what looked to be a scroll from one of his pouches and drove down towards her. His eyes closed as he began to concentrate, and just as he managed to grab her, they both became engulfed in a black glowing ball, and then suddenly the black ball disappeared taking both of them with it.

**Port Windurst**

Near the fishing guild area a black ball of light suddenly appeared and out came Kodie and Arlette and they both landed on the ground. Kodie was on the bottom while the Mithra was on top of him, holding onto him for dear life. Arlette's eyes were closed, but suddenly darted open as she realized that she wasn't dead. She pushed away from Kodie and quickly stood up looking around her surrounds.

"Where are we now?" She asked, looking rather confused.

"We're in Windurst…and you're welcome..." Kodie replied as he stood up dusting himself off. "You do realize those Warp Scrolls are pretty damn expensive…"

"HEY YOU!" Someone interrupted the two. When Kodie and Arlette turned around, they found it was the large man who had held Arlette from before. "You said that she was not coming back here! What in Altana is this thief doing back here!"

"Look I can explain everything..." Before he could say anything else the man charged at Arlette.

"No, she's mine now!" The man said as he unsheathed his knife. Arlette was unfortunately unarmed but was in a fighting stance.

Suddenly the man's face was met by Kodie's fist, and with his fist being a dark steel gauntlet, it quickly knocked the fat man out. This then caused a large group to surround the two, putting Arlette and Kodie back to back.

"Great, now I'm in trouble..." Kodie said.

"You didn't have to do that, I can take care of myself!" Arlette glared over at Kodie angrily as the large mob began to approach them.

"ENOUGH!" A voice called out and everyone stopped and glanced over.

It was an armor clad Mithra who had made the command. "All of you disperse and go on with your business. I will take care of these two."

As ordered, the people did begin to turn away, two of them helped out the still unconscious man. The Mithra approached Kodie and Arlette. "Well, well, if it isn't Semih Lhafihna?" Kodie said as she approached.

Semih looked over to the other Mithra and then to Kodie "She was supposed to have been banished earlier today. But, under the circumstances, I guess I will make it so that she is allowed here. But only under your custody."

"WHAT! No way, that's not fair! I don't want to be with this armor clad moron!" Arlette protested quite loudly.

"I'm afraid you have no choice. It's either that, or we lock you up for a long time." Semih replied as Arlette stayed silent, her arms crossed over her chest stewing at the thought that she was now bound to a Hume.

Kodie decided to ignore Arlette's comments. "Where are Ren and Khuma?"

"Ren and Khuma are fine, they used a Warp Scroll as well, and they're at the Heaven's Tower, which is where I will take you two. We have things we need to discuss…"


	5. Give Me A Moment

_Hey guys we're back! Sorry for the long delay, we've been pretty busy with stuff IRL. Like getting married!_

_If you haven't noticed, we will be doing flashbacks for Kodie on every even numbered chapters. Zeid, Khuma, Semih Lhafihna and any Beastmen are Properties of SquareEnix. All original character names are properties of Healerkou and Serge_

**Heaven's Tower, Windurst**

Khuma and Ren were in an empty room, waiting to find out just what was going on. They had warped right away from Giddeus, only to have been met by some Mercenaries to be taken to the Heaven's Tower. Ren sat down at a chair leaning against his staff while Khuma paced around rather impatiently.

"Where in the world is he? I hope he's not in any trouble," Khuma said as she looked over to Ren, rather worried.

"Relax you know this is Kodie. Besides you also know he's better at doing stuff on his own. Ever since that…"

"Don't say any more…you know how I feel about what happened then…" Khuma said as she interrupted Ren.

Before anything else could have happened the door opened and in came Kodie and Arlette. Once they were in the room it was quickly closed, but that didn't bother Khuma, the blonde haired Mithra ran to the Dark Knight and threw her arms around him.

"Kodie! You're all right!" She said as she pulled away a bit, normally this wasn't the way she acted, not even with Ren. But Kodie was like her brother. She then turned and noticed the white haired Mithra who was wearing tattered old versions of traditional Mithran clothing, and who was looking rather disgruntled. "Who's this?"

"Oh, her? This is Arlette." Kodie said as he stepped back a bit so Khuma could get a better look at her. "As of right now she's under my custody."

Arlette didn't say anything. She stood there stewing at what was going on, her face turned away from everyone. At that moment, she would have rather been back at Giddeus at the mercy of a dragon then to be bound to a Hume. Khuma just stared at her for a few moments and a smirk appeared on her lips.

"Oh so this is the Mithra who got caught at Naccum's?" Khuma said with a chuckle. "Some thief you are, Kodie and I use to grab stuff there when we were only kids."

Suddenly Arlette darted her eyes right at the other Mithra. A growl escaped her lips; she didn't appreciate the comment about her thievery skills. Arlette had always prided herself at being good at what she did; today was the first time she had been caught in ten years.

"Why don't you just shut up, before I show you what I can do?" Arlette threatened in a low voice.

"Whoa, whoa, down you two." Ren said as he got between the two Mithras, holding his arms out like a referee. He then turned to Arlette and offered her a smile. "Sorry about my rude wife. We haven't introduced ourselves…I'm Ren and this feisty little Mithra over here is Khuma. We're friends of Kodie's."

"I don't care," Arlette said as she turned away from Ren with her nose in the air. "And since you're friends with this Hume scum, you're enemies of mine as well."

"Ooookay someone's got some real issues there," Ren replied as he just shrugged and sat back down. Khuma following him and sat down next to the Elvaan.

Kodie walked over to Arlette, grabbing her by the arm so she would face him. "You know if it wasn't for those two, you'd be dinner for that dragon. So I suggest you act a little more grateful to them."

"I didn't ask for their help! Or even yours!" Arlette pulled her arm away from Kodie. "As soon as we're out of Windurst, I'm out of here!"

Before Kodie could even respond the door opened once again and Semih entered. She looked over to the four and nodded to them. "I just gave your rrrrrrrreport to the Star Sybil." She then tossed a pouch over to Kodie who quickly caught it. Arlette heard the jingling of change inside the pouch, obviously it was gil. Gil that she would need.

"But now I ask you for anotherrrr mission. We suspect that the same situation is going on in both Bastok and San'd Oria areas. I want all four of you to head overrrr to those countries and warn their leaders. Since this will be a diplomatic mission, you all will be wearrrrring Federation Aketons."

"Wait? Why do you need us go there, why don't you send messages out with the Moogles? They would get there quickly?" Ren said as he looked confused.

Semih simply shook her head. "You know well that both Bastok and San'd Oria's leaders would not take the letter seriously. We also suspect that the Beastmen would make theirrrr attack during the Summerrrr Fest next week. So you would need to split into two grrrroups and head to both countries as soon as possible….."

"Wait a minute!" Arlette suddenly interrupted. "You said the four of us, right? Last I checked, I don't want anything to do with these people. After they leave Windurst, I'm gone! I should also get some gil for the troubles these three have caused me."

"Right, saving your life was such trouble…maybe I should make you pay for the Warp Scrolls and arrows you made us use." Kodie said as he glared right at Arlette. But then he suddenly shrugged. "Then again, that works perfectly for me, because you would just get in my way and slow me down…"

"Enough, you two!" Semih yelled. "It's your choice Arlette, you are right. I can't force you to go with them on the mission when they leave. However I am offering another ten thousand gil to finish this job."

Suddenly Arlette's eyes lit up, and a smirk appeared on her face. She would get enough gil to go to Jeuno like she wanted, and just to do a diplomatic mission? How could she refuse? Besides Arlette also knew that the Aketon's were of high value in the black market, so she could get top gil for it once she got her pay. "All right fine…I'm in, but once I get my gil. I'm done with these losers."

**Port Windurst, Two Hours Later**

The large airship had docked and people had begun to load into the large vehicle. Kodie, Arlette, Khuma and Ren stood at the departure door. It was from there that Khuma and Ren would go to San'd Oria while Kodie and Arlette would go to Bastok.

"Are you sure about this?" Khuma asked Kodie looking worried at what his plans were. "You should go in the Airship with us, not go there by foot."

Kodie just shook his head. "You know how people are when they see a large group with Aketons on in the middle of Jeuno. Suzu will get us there with no problem. She's one reliable Chocobo."

"Can you trust…well you know who? Your happy little friend?" Ren said as he pointed to Arlette who was a distance away from the group.

Kodie nodded. "She won't do anything until this mission is done. Besides, she tries anything, I know how to take her down. Now get going you two. I'll meet you all back here in a week."

Both Ren and Khuma waved as they made their way towards the Airship. Meanwhile Kodie made his way towards Arlette as they watched the Airship begin to fly off towards the horizon. Both were now in their Green Aketons that had the logo of Windurst on their shoulders. Kodie also had a pair of black slacks, steel boots, gloves, and his Scythe strapped to his back. Arlette only wore a subligar, Mithran style fingerless gloves and gaiters wrapped around her feet.

Once the ship was out of sight, Kodie turned to Arlette and pulled out a knife, which he then offered to her. "I know the Yagudos took your weapon. This knife helped me out a lot when I was thieving. It'll do the job for you too, take good care of it."

Arlette looked at the knife, it was well crafted and maintained, far better quality than what her knife was. Though the fact that she was given a handout from a Hume had turned her stomach, she did need a weapon. The Mithra quickly snatched the knife away and slipped it onto a holster that was strapped to her thigh. "I'm not giving this knife back; consider it payment for ruining my day."

Kodie just let out a sigh and shook his head, this Mithra had a serious problem. But then again she was just a loner, just like he was. This was why he just turned around and began to make his towards the Chocobo stables, Kodie wanted this mission done right away so he could be rid of the little nuisance.

Arlette followed behind him, but at a cautious distance. She knew that Kodie would not hurt her, in fact in just one day he had saved her four times. But still thanks to what had happened to her long ago, she still wanted to be cautious with her Hume savior. Arlette just stayed quiet as they reached the Chocobo Stables.

Once they entered the stables, Kodie nodded to the stable handlers as he made his way over to his Chocobo named Suzu. The Chocobo obviously knew who he was and let out a happy "WARK" as Kodie approached. "Hey buddy…they taking good care of you?" He said as he petted the animal's head.

Suzu suddenly turned her head over to Arlette who was standing close by. Suzu once again let out a "WARK" and approached Arlette. Kodie stood there and watched as Arlette suddenly let out a smile to the Chocobo and began petting it as well. Suzu once again let out another "WARK" enjoying the attention Arlette was giving her. "What's its name?" Arlette asked as she continued petting Suzu.

"Her name is Suzu." Kodie would reply as he approached the two and patted Suzu lightly on her back. "I found her injured and was almost the prey of a Malboro. I took care of her until she got better, ever since we've stuck together. One of the most reliable Chocobos I've ever seen. I named her Suzu after Suzaku."

Arlette stared at the Chocobo right into the eyes as and then pulled her hand away from Suzu and faced Kodie with a smirk. "You know for a Dark Knight you sure do like to play hero a lot. You should stop trying to save others, it'll wind up costing you."

"I've all ready learned that lesson." Kodie said as he began to mount Suzu's back. "Let's go."

Arlette did not say anything; she just simply hopped up onto Suzu as well, right behind Kodie. She was hesitant at first but then she placed her hands on Kodie's hip. At that time Kodie lightly jerked the reigns of the Chocobo and Suzu quickly darted out of the stables and into Sarutabaruta.

**Tahrongi Canyon**

It had taken about two hours to go through Sarutabaruta and then into the canyon areas of Tahrongi. The sun was now beginning to set as Kodie and Arlette made their way through the canyons on Suzu. They would be arriving at Mhaura in a few hours and then take the ferry boat to Selbina. Not much was said between the two during their trip.

Arlette let out a small yawn as she began to wrap her arms all the way around Kodie's waist, and lean over Kodie to rest her head on his back. She let out a little smile on her lips as she felt his muscular stomach, he had a firm and strong body. Arlette closed her eyes as she kept that girlish smile on her, it had been so long since she felt so content, so safe, and it was thanks to Kodie.

Suddenly the Chocobo jumped a ledge, and landed hard on the ground. It did nothing to hurt the Chocobo's strong legs but it caught Arlette by surprise as she quickly sat back up pulling her arms away only to be holding his sides again. She cursed herself for thinking such things for a Hume, especially one that was cocky like him. But at least he had what it took to back it up.

**Mhaura**

They finally reached the small port town of Mhaura, where the ferry was docked. Kodie made his way with Suzu towards the ferry boat where he led her to the small stable area to keep her during the ride. "I'll be around, you don't cause any trouble, ok?" The Chocobo just replied with a "WARK".

The boat slowly began to leave the docks as night fell. It would reach its destination in the afternoon on the next day. Thought it was nighttime, Arlette stood on the deck of the boat, looking out into the darkness. The sky and the water merged together as one, and she suddenly felt very small and lonely. The Mithra shivered as she felt a cold sea breeze blow by, but suddenly she felt a blanket wrap around her. Arlette was startled at first and quickly turned around to see that Kodie was the one who placed the blanket on her. "You looked pretty cold, I'm going to rest, we're in the second room on the right and you can have the top bunk. I'll see you later."

Before she could give him one of her harsh responses, Kodie made his way below deck leaving Arlette in the blanket. She turned back to look up at the starry night sky as she tried to gather her thoughts about the events that happened that day. Early that morning she was just a lowly thief, stealing bread. Now she was on a mission of great importance to Windurst. How things can quickly change. Arlette just let out a sigh and made her way to the lower decks.

Morning came, and during that time Kodie was sound asleep, lying on his left side in the bottom bunk while Arlette was sleeping on her stomach on the top bunk. They both needed rest after the events of the previous day. But even more events were to come.

"LOOK OUT!" Someone from the top deck screamed and suddenly a loud crash could be heard.

That quickly woke both Kodie and Arlette. The Mithra jumped off the top bunk and looked over to Kodie rather worried. "What the heck was that!"

"I don't know, but I'm going to find out," Kodie said as he grabbed his scythe and left the room. He listened for more screams as he made his way up the stairs to get to the top deck, with Arlette following close holding her knife.

Once they made it to the top, Kodie stopped dead in his tracks, his eyes widening in shock at what was on the boat. A large creature was hovering over the boat that looked as if it were a cross between a Manta Ray and an Octopus. It was smashing parts of the boat as well as attacking anyone that was near it, people were screaming, panicking, while others attempted to fight it, to no avail.

Arlette stared at the creature. She had never seen anything like it before. She began to shake a little in fear, though she tried her best not to show it in front of Kodie. She couldn't show her fear, not now. "Wh…what the heck is that!"

Kodie looked ahead as he gripped tightly onto his scythe. "A Sea Horror…"


End file.
